


An Angel of Jade

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Final Fantasy II
Genre: Astaroth - Freeform, Conviction - Freeform, Crime, Emperor - Freeform, Gen, Jade Passage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charged for having failed against the rebels, Astaroth faces his punishment.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	An Angel of Jade

**Author's Note:**

> It was intended to be longer, but it turned out to be just this short drabble. I wanted to just finish it up and not leave it incomplete.

"You have failed me, Astaroth. Your life is forfeit."

The silence having fallen when the Emperor had spoken was a heavy blanket upon the everyone. They had hoped that the Emperor would have summoned them for a more joyous announcement, but they certainly wouldn't have awaited anything like that. Astaroth couldn't speak up, too shocked to even think. When had he ever failed the Emperor? He couldn't remember any occasion. With the possible exception of...

"You do remember, right?" The Emperor had risen from his crystal throne. "You remember where you failed me."

"My lord..." Astaroth had fallen to his knees. "My lord, please..."

"Please _what_?" The voice was cold and seemed to cut into his skin, making Astaroth flinch lightly. "You are asking something from me, when having lost against the so-called Warriors of Light for two times?"

"My lord, I have become stronger!"

"I am not interested in talking to failures like you!"

Astaroth shuddered and bowed his head once more. He would have loved to spit out a counter at that, to remind the Emperor of his services over all of those years. But there was nothing coming to his mind, nothing he could have said in his defense. No, the only thing there was any longer was the choking guilt of having failed in any way possible.

"We could have been able to take the Tower of Mysidia in a storm. But instead, you decided to be weak in the decisive moment. You let the rebels slip past, and now they are in the possession of that blasted spell. You are a fool, Astaroth, and you shall be punished accordingly."

"My lord...!"

Astaroth was in fear now, and he didn't want to think of what punishment the Emperor would dish out. It had been years since he had been so full of fear that he fell to his knees. He had lowered his gaze, shuddering all over while he waited for his punishment to be dealt out. The demons around them began chittering in excitement, gesturing towards Astaroth and hissing in delight. They were all eager to see him punished further, punished for something he might not even have done. He couldn't explain it, but he had the feeling that he was just now turned into a scapegoat for everything having gone wrong during the siege on the Tower.

He waited in silence, blocking out the sounds around him. He didn't want to hear the accuses, the claims made as to what exactly he had done wrong. He wanted to just sink into this silence he had chosen for himself, and remain inside of it. He wanted to remain quiet in the storm brewing around him, in the tireless hissing of the demons who seemed to be trying and claim the worse things to have happened, even worse than the things he already was accused of.

While he cowered there, Astaroth felt the grip of magic around him tightening, and suddenly, he was all calm. If he already was punished, then he would not give them the satisfaction of watching him beg. No, he would allow them to see that he still was a prideful being, if one fallen from the grace of the Emperor and damned to spend who knew how much time alone. And as the grip closed around him, everything just went silent. Only the Emperor's voice echoed through his mind.

"You shall spend eternity in the Jade Passage, the descent into the afterlife, and towards eternal pain. You shall be known as the abominable creature lurking down there, robbed of all of your powers and forced to live on far after you death. Your soul shall never find peace."

But if the Emperor had known what he would unleash unto the world and himself there, he might have reconsidered his choice...

 


End file.
